Players are happy to go extra mile in drop battle
SAYS NEIL McCANN
UPON taking the reins amid the white heat of a relegation battle, Neil McCann detected his battleweary Dundee players needed a cooling-off period.
A decision was promptly taken to send his bruised squad home for the weekend for some family time, to put football and their on-pitch woes out of their worried minds.
That decision was vindicated last Saturday when Dundee headed to Fir Park hoping to avoid eight straight top-flight losses for the first time since 1898 and emerged with a precious 3-2 win over Motherwell.
Fuelled by the rejuvenating powers of a rare victory, McCann reports that those same players had smiles on their faces when he turned the tables this week and told them to go to Dens Park on their day off.
The reaction of his squad as they took in his game plan told the former Rangers and Scotland winger all he wanted to know about the mood in the camp ahead of tomorrow’s vital trip to Kilmarnock.
‘We got the lads in on Monday and we had an intense week of training,’ said McCann, whose team are just one point above the relegation play-off place.
‘I didn’t give them Wednesday off as usual. We have been focusing on Kilmarnock and I wanted them in on Wednesday to do certain things because it will be a totally different game to the Motherwell match.
‘The players were all very pleased to come in and do the extra day’s training — and that shows me they are enjoying things.
‘They had that time to enjoy with their families the previous week, but the necessity of the game on Saturday means we wanted them in on Wednesday as well.
‘But it wasn’t about coming in and getting hammered (physically) in training on their day off.
‘It was an enjoyable session and you can see the players are really getting to grips with what I am trying to do and how we want to play. And that respect they have has meant training has been enjoyable.’
The harmony within the squad was matched by the obvious bond between an impressive away support and their team and manager last weekend at Fir Park.
It reminded McCann of the spirit of the ‘Deefiant’ season of 2010-11, when a 25-point deduction left the Dark Blues 20 adrift at the foot of the old First Division and looking doomed.
Despite having been out of the game for a year, McCann returned to his former club as a trialist, and scored the winner on his debut against Raith Rovers as Dundee went a record 23 matches unbeaten to survive against the odds.
He is hoping to pull off another escape in his first foray into management.
‘I’ve a bond with this club over two successful periods, one shorter (the ‘Deefiant’ season) and one longer before that,’ smiled McCann.
‘So the backing we got last weekend at Fir Park was very special to me and it was important to the players, too.
‘The fans should never underestimate the power they can have with their positivity and they should never underestimate the power of negativity as well. Especially in these pressure situations for the players.
‘I’ve no doubt the players fed off the fans last weekend at Motherwell.
‘It must have been difficult for the fans sitting there watching crosses coming into our box, but I’m hoping they saw that, as a team, we were dealing with it.
‘We will need the fans again at Kilmarnock on Saturday.
‘We’ve just got to make sure we feed off the confidence of that win at Fir Park because it had been a while since they last enjoyed that winning feeling. Now we want to savour more of it.
‘I was proud of the team last week, but there are things we can improve on.’
McCann is full of admiration for the job done by former Rangers captain Lee McCulloch since he took interim charge at Killie.
‘He’s done a brilliant job,’ he said. ‘He has Kilmarnock very organised. With Lee having played at a high level, they are really structured and it’s going to be a different problem for us to solve.
‘But it’s not backs-to-the-wall stuff with Kilmarnock. They are clever and know how to win. We will give them respect.’
PFA Scotland yesterday announced a four-man shortlist for Manager of the Year comprising Celtic’s Brendan Rodgers, Aberdeen’s Derek McInnes, Partick Thistle’s Alan Archibald and Jim Duffy of Morton.
The league’s newest manager believes it is the right shortlist at the wrong time.
‘I do find it strange when these awards come out before the Scottish Cup final,’ said McCann. ‘The timing is weird, especially when you look at last year when Alan Stubbs went on to smash the long-running Scottish Cup record at Hibs (but Rangers boss Mark Warburton won PFA Scotland Manager of the Year).
‘All four men are good nominations and are all worthy of being on the shortlist, but it’s going to be hard to eclipse Brendan Rodgers.
‘That’s not just because Brendan has the league and the League Cup already in the bag, and a Scottish Cup final to come. It’s because of the impact he has had on his team.
‘Yes, he has made a couple of significant signings but the impact he has made on players who were already at Celtic has been pretty special.’